THE WEEKENDER :) ANIMAL HIJINX & THE MOB GETS SERENADED

ECLECTIC TREATS

    It's a real mixed bag THE WEEKENDER :) brings you this June weekend.

BETTER THAN PET TRICKS

     Thanks to Brian and a couple of other friends for alerting me to some incredible video. These are lots of fun.

        This piece from Brazil is fascinating and speaks volumes about species interaction.  What an uplift! The video was shot and is copyrighted by Gerd Traue.

THEN THERE IS THE EXERCISING SEA LION

No explanations needed-

but who came up with the training idea?

     Neither of these pieces are earth shaking, but they are evidence of how the world can share and enjoy, thanks to YouTube. And after all it is the weekend and THE WEEKENDER :) is about enjoyment and maybe a nap.

DAY BOOK

CAT TIMES

     Nap time comes easily to Hemingway and Luke.

    Daughter Kristin was working on a shot of the buck when

out of no where up pops "stealth kitty" Hemingway.  

    Then there was the time when Hemingway encountered

a new gate for the first time.

FRIDAY LUNCH FLASH MOB GETS SERENADED

    Have a great weekend.  See you down the trail.

A LONG WAY TO GO FOR FOIE GRAS

ENDANGERED DINING 

     The San Luis Obispo Tribune headline called it a Foie Gras Feeding Frenzy. 

      As of July 1, there is a ban on selling Foie Gras in California.  Once again the Golden State leads the nation, but this prohibition has a lot of foodies yelling.  They're yelling only while not taking part in a crazed binge of Foie Gras consumption.

      A few leading chefs have launched an appeal, but the legislation establishing the ban was passed in 2004 and allowed a long lead in.  Not long enough for those who enjoy the fattened liver of geese or ducks.  

     The law bans the use of forced feeding, a pipe stuffed down the esophagus.  It is a cruel technique and the 71/2

year grace period was designed to allow chefs and culinary experts to find a less barbaric way to fatten the livers. 

      Foie Gras is a centuries old delicacy and while it's bad for goose & gander, and can wreck your cholesterol levels and waist line, it is a rare and delicious taste. Many Californians are now stuffing themselves and discussing ways around the ban.

      I've enjoyed Foie Gras, never once thinking about how it was derived.  Maybe I should have been more sensitive.  Still, in the hands of a master chef, it is out of this world.

      The most unusual place I had Foie Gras was a half a world away.

     I was on assignment in the middle east and ended up in the "autonomous zone," what the PLO called Palestine.

    Jericho, where the wall came tumbling down, was

home to some of the best Foie Gras in the world,

      served in this restaurant off Allenby road. 
    With the exception of the staff and our group, the place was empty. Inside and out men carried weapons. 

    I sat with Uzi, the son of original Israeli settlers and freedom fighters, in an Arab restaurant in Jericho eating the largest goose livers I'd seen, served off swords direct from an open grill. They were larger than steaks. 

    The host, excessively proud of the humongous livers, joined us in what struck me as a possible new avenue of diplomacy.

   For a couple of hours we drank Arabic tea, ate salad

and pounds of the giant livers.  Pounds of Foie Gras, that kept coming in waves, hot off the sword as Uzi and his counterpart talked, argued and debated the future of Israel, Palestine, peace and war amidst the curling smoke of cigarettes and sizzling Foie Gras.

    I maybe wrong, but I can't imagine the fancy Foie Gras farewell feast they held in Pebble Beach could have held a candle to that afternoon in Jericho.

    See you down the trail.

SOME BRIDGE TO SOMEWHERE & THANKS FOR THE AWARD

MORE ENGINEERING MARVEL

     For a couple of years now Cal Trans has been building 
a new span along the majestic Pacific Coast Highway in Big Sur.  Building the bridge while also tending to the routine rock slides and washouts.  
     If you desire confirmation of our ability to engineer and design, drive the famous Highway 1 from Cambria to Carmel.  It is evidence of intellectual capability that provides a 
route to put us right in the middle of and exposed to some 
of this planet's greatest beauty and awe inspiring scenery.
     The new bridge, scheduled for completion next year,will up the ante.
     Thanks to my daughter Kristin who grabbed these frames
as we drove through the work zone.

   As you can see this new span will elevate the road grade providing an even more spectacular perspective.

 The work of generations of engineers and builders are 
appreciated by those of us who enjoy scores of views that
are breathtaking. Highway 1 is a national treasure.

  Driving Highway 1 should be on everyone's bucket list.

I'm flattered and honored.

    While traveling I was alerted to being given an ILLUMINATING BLOGGER AWARD by CJ at Food Stories Blog

     CJ is a nurse with a personal interest in food and nutrition which you can learn more about on her blog. 
     She is the originator of the  Illuminating Blogger Award that you can also read more about at the second link.
     CJ asked that I share information about myself.  I am a 
devoted foodie.  I love food prep, dining, discovering great chefs and sharing an evening of food with friends.  
     If I could change one thing about the near perfect American Provence (the Central Coast) it would be to add the savor and aroma of those great little bistros and restaurants that dot the south of France in wine country and in the small mountain villages and towns.  We have marvelous dining in Cambria, Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo, but those charming little local places are missing in our rolling mountain wine country.
      Thanks CJ.  
     I share this ILLUMINATING BLOGGER AWARD by nominating
these blogs


http://oddballobservations.blogspot.com/

Bruce Taylor aka The Catalyst-loves food, cats, music and has a unique view and sense of humor. He's made me laugh for decades. He is also a certified political and blues junkie.

http://thechubbychatterbox.blogspot.com/

The Chubby Chatterbox is an extraordinary writer and artist.

He is superbly entertaining and his blog is a bright spot in the blogosphere.

http://vinylstats.blogspot.com/

Frank is another superb writer and astute musicologist.  I've 

been taking his lead on music for decades.

http://skfigler.com/

Steve is one of the renaissance men of the Central Coast.

A talented writer with a great concern for words and how people use them creatively and politically.

http://lightbymorning.blogspot.com/

Mollie writes with sensitivity, personal reflection and an exploring spirituality.  The twin daughter of a life long friend, Mollie represents the best of her generation's personal blogging. 

COMING TOMORROW

   A long way to go and an odd location for Foie Gras-now endangered in California.

    See you down the trail.

NO PLACE LIKE IT & A HARD MEMORY

OFF THE HIGHWAY

     Big Sur owned my heart from the first time I saw it

in 1969.  By the time Brian Wilson's California Suite was 

written in 1973, the area had become mythical as a place where nature, at its most beautiful, turned on hearts, spirits, creativity and imagination.

       On a recent trip I collected a few images that bespeak

the kind of ethos and attitude that remain.

     

It continues to be a place where originality
dwells in the majestic Redwoods.

     Sitting in this room, a gentle breeze on my face, smelling the freshness of the forest and being tranquilized by the blue of the pacific and the sweet sounds of the wind chimes is 
mesmerizing. It nourishes, deeply.

    Dabbles of warm sun rain through the pines and redwoods.

Mike Love and Brian Wilson immortalize the beauty in this video. CALIFORNIA SAGA/BIG SUR BRIAN WILSON from CALIFORNIA SUITE Do do do do do do do do do Cashmere hills filled with evergreens Flowin' from the clouds down to meet the sea With the granite cliff (big sur mount) As a referee Crimson sunsets and golden dawns A mother deer with their newborn fawns All under big sur skies (big sur mount) That's where I belong. Big sur I've got plans for you Me and mine are going to Add ourselves to your lengthy list of lovers (big sur mount) And live in canyons covered in springtime green Wild birds and flowers to be heard and seen And with my old guitar I'll make up songs to sing. Where bubbling springs from the mountainside Join the big sur river to the oceanside Where the kids can look for sea shells at low tide Big sur my astrology it says that I am made to be Where the rugged mountain meets the water And so while stars shine brightly from up above The fog rolls in through a redwood grove And to my dying fire I think I'll add a log. From time to time I must go away The thoughts of big sur won't let me stay Away from big sur Oh big sur   Link to this post from last year's Jade Fest to get a sense of the timeless Big Sur Congregation. A TRAGIC CALIFORNIA MEMORY     We are voting today but the California primary  evokes that horrible night in June 1968 when Robert Kennedy was gunned down.         I spent time with Kennedy and his campaign in April when he campaigned in the Indiana primary.  As a young reporter, it was my first presidential election and Kennedy's star power and charisma was impressive and memorable. His death, like Martin Luther King Jr.'s fueled the maelstrom and upending of the social fabric in that searingly unique year.       There is rancor and division today, but by comparison to 1968 we are living in a halcyon Penny Lane.       See you down the trail.

ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD

FLIRTING WITH FOG

IN BIG SUR

     As my friend Jim, who introduced me to Big Sur in 1969 said, "Big Sur never disappoints."

    On our most recent trip, Big Sur is about 20 minutes away,
we were treated to the brooding, mysterious Big Sur in the
fog and to that magnificent and magical Big Sur in the sun.
    From the marine bank in the frame below, shot from above where it hovered over the coast,  to the sunny stairs that follow later, Big Sur never disappointed.
    There is no place like it. 

      In the frame below you can see the dance between sun and fog that played around each bend and into each canyon or cove.

     I've posted a few extra shots of the ragged shore at Sandollar. A few of you have told me you like those rock and sea shots for screen savers and home pages.

     Finally the sun broke through on the splendor of 
Sandollar Beach. 

   Tomorrow, the whimsy of Big Sur, away from the road and sea.

   See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER :) PURE ENJOYMENT

MILLIONS HAVE SEEN THIS-

HAVE YOU

     It is another amateur "love moment" video that has 

gone viral. More than 11 million viewers so far.

       I continue to marvel how YouTube and web videos weave us into that global village of shared experiences-on the cheap!  

Celebrate imagination!

Celebrate love.

COMING SOON

FLIRTING WITH FOG IN BIG SUR

Have a great weekend.

See you down the trail.